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Monday, August 15, 2016

Ups and Downs and 1 year old

Hey y'all!!
This week has been so full of ups and downs. I wish I could just email home a bottle with all of my emotions and feelings and thoughts and things I learned so y'all could FEEL what I feel but.... well.... it doesn't quite work like that. It's just, being on a mission is something incredibly different from anything I have ever experienced in my life and it is by far the greatest decision I have ever made.
First of all, this week we hit our one year mark of being in the mission. My sweet companion and I have been so blessed to be together this transfer because we are feelings like the exact same things and it has been a huge blessing to be able to celebrate and cry and freak out and just be missionaries together.
I want to tell you about one of our investigators, Moises. So he is an awesome investigator and just the investigator that when we go visit him, our citas are long and super spiritual and you leave feeling like you have just finished running a spiritual and mental marathon. He sometimes has a hard time accepting the things we teach when they aren't exactly what he thinks and we do a lot of scriptrue reading and intellectual talking. But he is awesome. He believes in God and has his own way of believing and doing things but is so willing to learn even though it is hard for him to accept the things we teach. Well, this week when we went to teach him, we were trying to find a member to go with us to his house and we couldn't find anyone! We called so many women in the ward and nobody could! However, the last one we called ended up being able to come and it was perfect! He brought up a concern with us as we taught him and we ended up changing the lesson completely right there on the spot which with him, is kind of a scary thing, but we focused on his doubt and what he didn't understand and went on with the lesson. He shared some past experiences and it helped us understand why he had this doubt and why he had some beliefs that he does. Turns out that this member had also had similar experiences and she was able to relate with him PERFECTLY. She shared her own experiences and her testimony and helped him come to an understanding - and I KNOW the Lord helped us out with that. I know that the Spirit truly works through us when we do our part to be prepared. Even though Hermana Peters and I had studied to teach something completely different, the Spirit really guided us to be able to teach him what he needed to hear in that moment. And it was incredible that Gaby was the last person we called to come with us, but ended up being the one we needed that could've helped him the best!! AND at the end of the lesson he told us that what we were teaching was starting to really make sense and have meaning for him. And then he thanked us for everything we are doing to help him! In this lesson, I think I realized what it means when they say "Teach people, not lessons". We maybe had gotten too caught up in making sure we had our scriptures prepared and doctrinal facts straight that I wasn't spending enough time on just LOVING him. On seeing him as one of God's children who is a little lost from the pathway. So it was humbling to remember that and change my focus to loving and serving instead of "being right". The Lord truly works miracles and changes hearts! Those of investigators but also my own.
We also had interviews with President Andersen this week. There is something so special about the relationship of a missionary with their president. I look up to him so much and am so grateful for the advice and counsel and encouragement he gives to all of us missionaries.
So there is a less active member that we go visit every week and her name is Alicia. This last week when we went to go visit her, I had the coolest experience. So we usually read in the Book of Mormon with her and then show her a mormon message. There is a mormon message called Our True Identity by Elder Uchtdorf that talks about the Ugly Duckling and relates it to how even though we may feel like an ugly duckling, we all have divine potential as sons and daughters of God. Well, after we watched it, my amazing comp started to testify about how much God loves us and that before this life, we knew we would leave Him to come down here and be tested and that even though we would go through hard things, we had the knowledge that He would be with us in every moment. I felt the Spirit so strong and just started to cry and could not even talk. It was incredible. I KNOW that God loves us. He is our Heavenly Father and He lets us pass through hard times to HELP us.
Gabriel and Antonio and Gregorio are all doing well! And we have started working with a few more new people - so many miracles! Transfers are next week and I have a feeling I'm going to get transferred but... We will see what the calls bring on Saturday.
I know this is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. That even though there are lots of good things in the world and lots of good teachings and people, that there is only ONE WAY to get back to our Heavenly Father and live with Him again. And the good news?? He has shown us the way! He has given us every single thing that we need to be able to follow Him!! It is up to us to have the faith and take the steps and persevere, but He will even help us with that!
I love being a missionary, I love the Book of Mormon I love this gospel, and more than anything, I love my Savior Jesus Christ.
Con mucho cariño,
Hermana Hauber 🇪🇸🌴❤️

My favorite scripture of the week:
Ether 3:4 - And I know, O Lord, that thou hast all power, and can do whatsoever thou wilt for the benefit of man...